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OU: ‘Why can’t it be us?’

The task is about as difficult as it can possibly be for Oklahoma. The Sooners, coming off an all-around victory against Missouri, now get ready for No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga.

OU knows it’s nobody else’s fault but its own after the late-season swoon. But that’s in the past. The Sooners have the opportunity, all you can ask.

“You kind of pull in that ‘why can’t it be us’ type thing,” senior forward Brady Manek said. “You want to win. We’re stuck with the best team right now. We’ve seen all these games. We’ve seen Ohio State go down. We’ve seen Texas go down.

“Why can’t that be us? Why can’t we have that upset win that gets us one game closer to what we want? It’s a crazy tournament. That’s why no one ever guesses it right. Stuff out of nowhere happens.”

OU battles the undefeated Bulldogs at 1:40 p.m. Monday on CBS at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, in a round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. There was a point in time earlier in the season when you could have envisioned this showdown in the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight, but OU stumbling down the stretch put it in the unenviable No. 8 seed.

And the unenviable task of slowing down Gonzaga. As one top seed after another has either had trouble to begin the tournament or actually been upset, the Bulldogs have appeared to be on cruise control all season long, including a dominant win over Norfolk State.

Mark Few has done a great job for a long time and that’s a very talented group when you have first-team All-Americans and second-team All-Americans and three of the top 10 … it’s a good bunch,” head coach Lon Kruger said. “They can hurt you in a lot of different way. They play basketball the way it’s supposed to be played. They make a lot of good plays for each other.”

It truly does feel like a pick your poison scenario when battling Gonzaga. Between Corey Kispert (19.3 points per game), Drew Timme (18.4 ppg) and Jalen Suggs (14 ppg), there is no easy answer. Slow one down, somebody else can step up and take over.

That’s why for OU is not a one-man job. Playing once again without De’Vion Harmon because of a positive COVID-19 test last week, it’s going to take a little bit from everybody to attempt pull off the massive upset.

A game where someone like Jalen Hill, who started in place of Harmon vs. the Tigers, needs to have an impact because of the versatility he brings.

“I thought Jalen and Victor, kind of playing that four spot and helping on Tilmon last night, I thought they were both outstanding in their role and kind of doing what we wanted to do defensively,” Kruger said. “Jalen's a guy that's just always in good position, his awareness is great, he understands all five positions.

“He's a communicator out there, he's a strong rebounder, he blocks out every time. All those things that a lot of time aren't something you can measure. Other players, coaches fully see it, appreciate it. Jalen's just a really, really good player in all those ways.”

Even if OU can lock in defensively, you know the Sooners are going to have to score. You figure you can count on Austin Reaves to come up with another big-time performance, but the Sooners are going to need Manek to rise to the occasion once again.

There is no question Manek struggled during the second half of the season after dealing with COVID-19, but he’s coming off back-to-back 19-point performances, going 8 of 14 from 3-point territory in those two games.

So what’s changed? Of course, that’s the kicker because nothing is different, if you ask Manek.

“Just making shots. I wasn’t making shots there for a few weeks. It had nothing to do with anything except the ball went in the hole and it didn’t go in the hole,” Manek said. “It was just one of those things. Even last night I had a rough first half and came out hot the second half. Then it sparked for everybody else. Everybody else was rolling after that.

“It was a really cool thing to see. But it had nothing to do with any change in anything or trying to fix anything. It just came down to did I make shots or not? Was I ready to catch and shoot when I had the opportunity?”

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